Aspirating trocar



June 23, 1953" E; R. m: 2.642.813

ASPIRATING TROCAR 7 Fund Feb. 12, 1949 INVEN TOR.

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Alibi-m 1 Patented June 23, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT ,oFncs v Edward R. Rice, Worcester, Mass.

Application February 12, 1949, Serial No. 76,121

6 Claims. (Cl. 128347) 1 This invention relates to new and improved aspirators, trocars, surgical instrument-s similar to aspirators, and the like. e

The principal objects of the invention reside in the provision of devices of the class described which may be used both for extractingfluids or for conveying fluids to the body in the embalmin process or in surgical operations or for use as a stomach pump and for introducing antidotes back into the stomach without removing the device; and the provision of a device as above described which is self-cleaning and which does not have to be removed from the body to be cleaned as it embodies means for clearing passages of solid material, said means being operable from the handle exterior to the body.

' Further objects of the invention include the provision of a tool or instrument of the class described comprising a pair of tubes or hollow cylinders, one within the other, and including means for rendering said tubes or cylinders rotatable relative to each other, each tube having corresponding holes near one end, these holes being respectively offset so that when a hole in one ,tube matches a hole in the other tube, other holes in the tubes will not match and will be only partially closed, to the end that regardless of the rotative position of the tubes, some holes will always be open or partly open, andthe rotation of said tubes acting to reduce any solid material lodged in a hole to smaller sizes so that thesame will be able to pass through the holes into the inner tube, or at least become dislodged from the hole;

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear hereinafter. Reference is to be had to the accompanyin drawings, in which --Fig. 1 is an end view in elevation of an instrument according to the invention, several parts being broken away and in section;

Fig. 2 is an enlargedview in elevation of the forward end of the inner tube, part being in section;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged section on the line 33 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a section through one end of the handle;

Fig. 5 is a section showing a modification;

Fig. 6 is a section showing a further modification; and

Fig. 7 is an enlarged view in elevation illustrating the relative disposition of the inner and outer holes of the modification of Fig. 6.

Both in surgical operations and in embalmin it is necessary to make insertions of instruments and to withdraw from or insert fluids relative to the body, and tools used for this purposehave in the past had the disadvantage of becoming clogged because of the fact that such tools, as-

pirators or trocars, have been made in the form of a single tube having a hollow penetrating point thereon and holes therein so that upon the application of a pump thereto body fluids may be extracted through the holes or embalming fluids or the like pumped in; however, these holes easily and quickly become clogged due to solid matter lodging therein and when this happens, the instrument must be withdrawn from the body and cleaned, and this cleaning is often a time-consuming, vexatious' job. This invention provides a tool for completely overcoming this difficulty and having a great many other uses and advantages which will appear hereinafter.

. Referring now to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, it willbe seen that the invention provides an outer tubeor hollow cylinder Ill having therewithin'a small tube or hollow cylinder H. The outer tube is secured to a knurled knob H at one end and at the other end the outer tube is provided with eighteen holes l6, these holes being arranged in six longitudinal rows of three each, the same being countersunk as best seen in Fig. 3 to provide relatively sharp edges l8.

The inner tube [2 terminates at its forward end in an external screw-thread 20'f0r the firm securement thereto of a solid penetrating point 22, the same being provided with three sharp cut ting edges 24 arranged at equal angles of The inner tube at its other end is fixed to a ring or the like 26 having a rearwardly extending threaded boss 28 for screw-threaded reception of a hollow handle 30. The other end of the handle is screw-threaded to a boss 32 of a hose connection 34. 1 q

Adjacent the forward end of the inner tube the same is provided with an equal number of'larger holes 36 as the outer tube, these holes also being arranged in six rows of three each, said rows, however, being on an angle relative to the axis of the tubes as clearly shown in Fig. 2, and thus 3 forming a handle may be grasped in the hand and the knurled ring H oscillated by means of the thumb so as to oscillate the tubes relative to each other to open and close the combined holes as described.

It will be clear that this action provides that the tool is self-cleaning and any solid matter that becomes lodged in a combined hole will obviously be cut in two and if not then dislodged, will be cut more and into finer pieces until it drops through the holes into the inner tube or falls from the exterior surface of the outer tube.

If desired, the outer tube may be made of rubber as indicated in Fig. 5 at 38, and a wire or the like 40 may be secured to the inner tube 44 so that the device may be flexible for use as a stomach pump or the like. In this case the tume would be very short and the flexible tube 30 relatively long.

As shown in Figs. 6 and '7, the outer tube 46 may be secured to a hollow head 48 having a series of holes 50 in a single circumferential line about the same, and in this case the inner tube 52 may be secured to an inner head 54 having a lesser number of holes 56 which, however, are spaced in such a way as to prevent all of the holes being open or closed at the same time, i. e., as shown in Fig. 7, if a hole is fully open, a hole to one side of it may be opening as at 58 and the hole to the other side of it will be in p the process of closing as at 60, depending on the direction of relative rotation of the parts.

It will be seen from the above that this invention provides a device of the class described which will not become plugged and which is self-cleaning under all circumstances, whether used as an embalming tool or a surgical instrument; more perfect embalming may be obtained by the use of this tool because of a higher percentage of extraction of body fluids and a more even distribution of embalming fluids; in the use of the tool the operation will be much faster due to the continuous flow of the fluids in both directions due to the self-cleaning characteristics of the tool; the tool may be used easily by one hand only; embalming fluid will be saved because of much more complete aspiration, thereby resulting in less dilution of cavity body fluids; improved solid point for better penetration and easier cleaning, the same being easily removable; and according to the disclosure of Fig. 1 there will always be at any time six holes completely open, six partly open but closing, and six partly open but opening.

Further advantages of the present invention include the fact that the relationship of the holes to the interior area of the device is such that although the tool will tend to suck air, the combined vents of all holes that are sucking air will not be enough to completely disrupt the vacuum or aspiration, i. e., the capacity of all holes does not exceed the capacity of the inner or aspirating tube. It is intended that the holes in 4 the outer tube will be slightly smaller than the holes in the inner tube so that anything that passes an outer hole is bound to pass an inner hole.

Having thus described my invention and the advantages thereof, I do not wish to be limited to the detail herein disclosed, otherwise than as set forth in the claims, but what I claim is:

1. A device of the class described comprising inner and outer hollow contacting members, means to move one member relative to the other, each member having holes therein at one end mutually arranged for alignment and misalignment simultaneously so that some combined holes are wholly open and others partly opened, as determbined by the relative positions of the members, the inner member forming a duct to and from the holes, the holes of the outer member being countersunk and providing sharp shearing edges at the outer surface of the inner member.

2. A device of the class described comprising inner and outer elongated hollow contacting cylindrical members, means to rotate said members relatively to each other, each member having a series of holes, certain holes in one member being alignable with holes in the other member, and other holes being then partly out of alignment, the inner member forming a duct for selectively leading material therefrom out through the holes, or inwardly through the holes and along the device, and a penetrating cutting point on the inner member, said point extending outwardly beyond the outer member.

3. The device of claim 2 including a cutter on the extreme end of the inner member, means detachably connecting the cutter thereto, the cutter forming a stop maintaining the outer member from axial movement on the inner member in one direction.

4. The device of claim 2 wherein the holes in the inner member are slightly larger than the holes in the outer member.

5. The device of claim 2 wherein the outer holes are countersunk and provide sharp cutting edges adjacent the exterior surface of the inner member.

6. The device of claim 2 wherein-the holes in one member are arranged in a row at an angle to the row of holes in the other member.

EDWARD R. RICE.

References Cited in the file 01' this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 737,293 Summerfeldt Aug. 25 1903 2,256,942 Duffy Sept. 25, 1941 2,525,329 Wyzenbeek Oct. 10, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 361,793 Germany Oct. 19, 1922 

